Things really quiet down in the yard after the breeding season is over. There are still robins around, but they are quiet for the most part. The mourning doves and collared doves continue to nest, but they are not as vocal as they were earlier in the year.

The one exception this year was the house wren that took up residence in the wren-house that has been in the yard for years. The house has been there, but not the birds. A few years ago, I had a male take up residence in the house, and he was trying to convince a female to move in with him when the cat caught him and killed him. Things were pretty quiet after that. Until this year.

My new male moved in and he was able to convince a female to join him. House wrens usually start setting up a nest around the first of May. A brood will take about a month to hatch and fledge (fly), so the male is singing to protect his territory as early as mid to late April. House wrens usually have two broods, so a second batch is started in June with fledging in July.

However, even with birds, there are exceptions. One pair of house wrens in Mitchell was documented as successfully raising four broods. That would have put the last batch in October!

I think something similar happened in my yard this summer because, as late as last week, the male was still very vocal in defending his territory. He wouldn’t be that vocal if there were no eggs or young in the house.

House wrens are tiny, fierce little birds that can hold their own against much larger birds. They nest all across the U.S. wherever there are trees and bushes.

House wrens are insect eaters so they have to migrate in winter. However, they don’t migrate very far.

In the summer they can be found in Canada and in the winter in Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico. They will eat just about any insect, and they will also eat spiders with daddy longlegs being a favorite.

Naming things is a particular passion with some biologists. Originally, there was a single species of house wrens with 32 subspecies. However, in 2024, with genetic mapping capabilities, the people who name things in the biological world have decided that the house wren is actually seven different species.

The one we have here is the northern house wren and the one found in South America is the southern house wren. The “namers” are passionate, but not very imaginative! The other five are in the Caribbean, and each species is unique to the island upon which they are found.

Prescribed fire is a popular habitat management tool used in oak woodlands in eastern Nebraska as a way to thin invasive and unwanted understory. Unfortunately, it is the understory that a variety of birds, including house wren, use for nesting and they are seeing a reduction in nesting birds in these areas. It reminds us that with all good things, like clearing out unwanted understory, there appears to also be some bad things, loss of habitat for the birds in this case!